Republican Party, Teabag Party and the Libertarian Party absolutely SUCK!

[Bo D]

Bobby Jindal's Advice To GOP 'Stop Being The Stupid Party'


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[Palehorse]

Romney didn't carry the state of Virginia, but under this system, he would have lost the state, yet received roughly 3/4 of the state's electoral votes anyway. 

The work of the evil corporation worshippers. . . 

[Palehorse]

Bobby Jindal's Advice To GOP 'Stop Being The Stupid Party'


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They'd rather rig the system than do what is right!

[The Troll]

  There are two things not in the Republican Handbook.  1. they have no morals.  2. No honor when it come running this country or their campaigns.   

[libby]

  There are two things not in the Republican Handbook.  1. they have no morals.  2. No honor when it come running this country or their campaigns.   

Does seem that way, doesn't it? Here's more detail about redistricting, Virginia style 

The Washington Post

Virginia Republicans' bald-faced power grab

By Editorial Board, Published: January 22, 2013

IN A SNEAK ATTACK notable more for its deviousness than its strategic acuity, Virginia Republicans engineered a bald-faced power grab Monday that would radically redraw the state's electoral map without so much as a "yea," "nay" or "maybe" from anything so trivial as a voter.

Taking advantage of the absence of a single Democratic state senator, GOP lawmakers in Richmond rammed through a radically gerrymandered map designed to hand them control of the 40-member state Senate, which is now split evenly between the two parties.

They were able to do so, on a vote of 20 to 19, because one Democratic senator was in Washington to attend President Obama's inauguration. Touche, Republicans! Count that as a new low for hyper-partisanship, dirty tricks and the unaccountable arrogance of power.

The Republican move was executed in the style of a putsch, arising from a conspiracy and with no warning, public input or debate. Pressing their momentary numerical superiority, GOP lawmakers amended a routine House bill by tacking on a new map, devised in secret. Although this is one of the most partisan redistricting plans in Virginia's history, the Republicans then cut off debate after 30 minutes.

Fortunately, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, a Republican who counts as a grown-up amid the sneaky schoolboys who dominate his party in Richmond, correctly saw the ruse as an invitation to political Armageddon — and a threat to his own legislative agenda. "I certainly don't think that's a good way to do business," said the governor.

Mr. McDonnell should immediately announce his intention to veto the map. If the redistricting is allowed to stand, it would radically reshape politics in Richmond. Unlike the GOP-dominated House of Delegates, the Senate has been in Democratic hands or closely divided since 2007. The Republican gerrymander, which could deliver several seats to the GOP, would change that at a stroke.

That this change would take place at mid-decade, rather than immediately following the decennial census as is customary, is of no concern to the Republicans, whose eyes are fixed only on the 2015 legislative elections. In embracing the radical option, they discounted all consequences, including the hypocrisy of their chosen fig leaf.

State Sen. John C. Watkins (Chesterfield), the mastermind of the ruse, defended it on the grounds that it would likely yield one additional black state senator. That rationale was rich, given that Republicans have steadfastly blocked Democratic attempts to redraw the electoral map for Congress to create additional minority districts. (Although minorities constitute more than a third of Virginia's population, just one of Virginia's 11 House members is a minority.)

In fact, Mr. Watkins's proposed map, which is certain to clear the state House, is a classic example of packing minorities into a district — in this case, a newly drawn one in Virginia's Southside — in order to dilute their influence, and that of Democrats generally, elsewhere.

Shame on the witless Democrats for not anticipating that Republicans, given the chance, would resort to dirty tricks.
And shame on Republicans for continuing their campaign to transform the General Assembly into a nasty, underhanded clone of Congress.

Of course, Democrats are dead set on retaliating, and who can blame them? They could, for example, blow up everything by using their votes in the Senate to block Mr. McDonnell's proposals to reform public education and transportation funding. They could also block passage of the budget.

That's why Mr. McDonnell, who professes not to have known about his fellow Republicans' subterfuge until it was carried out, should immediately announce his intent to veto the map. Failing to do so will only invite legislative paralysis, subvert his own proposals and inalterably stain his legacy. The sooner he acts, the better.

Read more from Opinions: David Alpert: The trouble with ditching the gas tax The Post's View: McDonnell's bold and paltry transportation plan Robert F. McDonnell: My transportation plan for Virginia
© The Washington Post Company

libby (The one Democrat senator who was absent because he was in Washington for the POTUS inauguration ceremony, on Martin Luther King day, is a black man.)

[Locutus]

McDonnell seems like the only sensible Republican in that state.

"A spokesman for Republican Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell says the governor opposes the GOP legislation that would award the state's electoral votes in presidential elections by congressional district -- instead of the current winner-take-all system.
Related: GOP looks to change the rules, not their party
"The governor does not support this legislation. He believes Virginia's existing system works just fine as it is. He does not  believe there is any need for a change," said spokesman Tucker Martin.
This opposition by McDonnell essentially kills the chances that the Electoral College change would become law in the state. In addition, another Republican state senator in Virginia today said he also was against the change."


http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/25/16700938-virginia-governor-opposes-electoral-college-change?lite

[Anne]

Weren't the Democrats wanting to change the electoral college or eliminate it after Mr. Bush was elected? Even Troll says he thinks it should be done away with. Seems to me what is good for one is good for the other. Actually, if you think about it, it would be a fairer way of counting the votes, more representative of the actual popular vote if all the states were that way.

[Locutus]

Weren't the Democrats wanting to change the electoral college or eliminate it after Mr. Bush was elected? Even Troll says he thinks it should be done away with. Seems to me what is good for one is good for the other.

I have no problem with that discussion being had; none whatsoever.  But the problem is, that's not what's being discussed here.  The Republicans want to change the way electors are delegated, but only in swing states, and not the entire country.  Would they want that same method employed in Texas, Mississippi, or Alabama?  I doubt it. 

They can't have it both ways.  You can't have delegates awarded to the recipient of the majority of the votes in states that are solidly Republican, but not in swing states that they've lost in the last two elections.  You can't tell me that you think it would be fair for Mitt Romney to have lost the the popular vote in this last election cycle, yet still received 75% of that state's electors.  How can you even support that sort of a proposition?

Hopefully, the people in the population centers in Virginia are watching the shit that these Republicans are trying to do, and take care of them the next time they're up for reelection. 

Actually, if you think about it, it would be a fairer way of counting the votes, more representative of the actual popular vote if all the states were that way.

No, it wouldn't.  Not in the manner that the Republicans of Virginia are proposing.  They're proposing assigning electors based on heavily gerrymandered political districts, and not the overall popular vote.  Read that article again.  Had the system they are proposing been in place last November, Mitt Romney would have lost the popular vote in the State of Virginia, yet would still have received 75% of the electors from that state.  There's absolutely no way that can be construed as fair by any stretch of the imagination. 

[Anne]

No, I don't think it is fair to have different rules for different states, but that is the way it works now and it is up to each state the way they decide who gets the votes. I don't think there is an entirely fair way. The coasts are heavily populated and they are frequently out of step with most of the interior of the country, (or the other way around if you prefer) yet they have a disproportionate influence on the government, IMO. I  don't see that changing, no matter the means of electing the President.

[Locutus]

No, I don't think it is fair to have different rules for different states, but that is the way it works now and it is up to each state the way they decide who gets the votes. I don't think there is an entirely fair way. The coasts are heavily populated and they are frequently out of step with most of the interior of the country, (or the other way around if you prefer) yet they have a disproportionate influence on the government, IMO. I  don't see that changing, no matter the means of electing the President.

The coasts of the country are where the majority of the population resides.  How can it be a disproportionate influence if that's where the majority of the population lives? 

[The Troll]

No, I don't think it is fair to have different rules for different states, but that is the way it works now and it is up to each state the way they decide who gets the votes. I don't think there is an entirely fair way. The coasts are heavily populated and they are frequently out of step with most of the interior of the country, (or the other way around if you prefer) yet they have a disproportionate influence on the government, IMO. I  don't see that changing, no matter the means of electing the President.

  Or is it the other way round.  The interior hay seeds Christians are out of step with the modern people to live in the modern world.  Not in the ancient past, like the bible days.     Let us pray. 

[followsthewolf]

No, I don't think it is fair to have different rules for different states, but that is the way it works now and it is up to each state the way they decide who gets the votes. I don't think there is an entirely fair way. The coasts are heavily populated and they are frequently out of step with most of the interior of the country, (or the other way around if you prefer) yet they have a disproportionate influence on the government, IMO. I  don't see that changing, no matter the means of electing the President.

One of the problems inherent in a democracy, Anne.

The founding fathers wrestled for weeks with exactly the same problem, and that's why we have two different bodies in the Congress and the electoral college to elect the POTUS. (Although, of course the population was in an altogether different configuration at the time, the problem remains the same.)

FWIW, I see your point, but, until someone finds a way to equalize it, we have to live with it.

[Locutus]

One of the problems inherent in a democracy, Anne.

The founding fathers wrestled for weeks with exactly the same problem, and that's why we have two different bodies in the Congress and the electoral college to elect the POTUS. (Although, of course the population was in an altogether different configuration at the time, the problem remains the same.)

FWIW, I see your point, but, until someone finds a way to equalize it, we have to live with it.

I want to make sure that Anne understands that I get her point too.  It was just infuriating to see what those idiots in Virginia were trying to come up with to rig the game to their advantage.  They would have basically silenced the will of the people who live in the metro areas around Richmond, Norfolk, and NOVA, in favor of the voices in the rural areas to the south and west which are more conservative. 

There is no way that any system should operate wherein a candidate loses the popular vote in a state, yet still picks up 3/4 of that state's electors. 

[Locutus]

On to my next diatribe.  Check out this delicious dichotomy. 

(CNN) -- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal rode into the Republican National Committee retreat in Charlotte, North Carolina, ready to offer a dose of tough medicine for the Republican Party, which he now says "must stop being the stupid party."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/25/opinion/avlon-bobby-jindal/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

Now ole' Bobby Jindal is admonishing his fellow party members telling 'em all that good sounding stuff about not being "the stupid party."

Yet he does this:



What did Jindal do to produce a hornet's nest of "mad scientists," as Times-Picayune writer James Gill described them? He signed into law, in Gill's words, the "Louisiana Science Education Act (LSEA), which is named for what it is designed to destroy." The act allows "supplemental textbooks and other instructional materials" to be brought into classrooms to support the "open and objective discussion" of certain "scientific theories," including, of course, evolution. As educators who have heard such coded language before quickly realized, the act was intended to promote creationism as science. In April, Kevin Carman, dean of the College of Science at Louisiana State University, testified before the Louisiana Senate's Education Committee that two top scientists had rejected offers to come to LSU because of the LSEA, and the school may lose more scientists in the future.

And now Jindal is poised to spend millions of dollars of state money to support the teaching of creationism in private schools.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/07/bobby_jindal_possible_vice_presidential_pick_but_has_a_creationism_problem_.single.html




Ole' Bobby thinks that the Republicans have to stop being the stupid party, but I guess that doesn't mean they have to include the support of science in doing so. 

[Palehorse]

On to my next diatribe.  Check out this delicious dichotomy. 

(CNN) -- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal rode into the Republican National Committee retreat in Charlotte, North Carolina, ready to offer a dose of tough medicine for the Republican Party, which he now says "must stop being the stupid party."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/25/opinion/avlon-bobby-jindal/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

Now ole' Bobby Jindal is admonishing his fellow party members telling 'em all that good sounding stuff about not being "the stupid party."

Yet he does this:



What did Jindal do to produce a hornet's nest of "mad scientists," as Times-Picayune writer James Gill described them? He signed into law, in Gill's words, the "Louisiana Science Education Act (LSEA), which is named for what it is designed to destroy." The act allows "supplemental textbooks and other instructional materials" to be brought into classrooms to support the "open and objective discussion" of certain "scientific theories," including, of course, evolution. As educators who have heard such coded language before quickly realized, the act was intended to promote creationism as science. In April, Kevin Carman, dean of the College of Science at Louisiana State University, testified before the Louisiana Senate's Education Committee that two top scientists had rejected offers to come to LSU because of the LSEA, and the school may lose more scientists in the future.

And now Jindal is poised to spend millions of dollars of state money to support the teaching of creationism in private schools.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/07/bobby_jindal_possible_vice_presidential_pick_but_has_a_creationism_problem_.single.html




Ole' Bobby thinks that the Republicans have to stop being the stupid party, but I guess that doesn't mean they have to include the support of science in doing so.

More proof that the religious zealots have infiltrated government; specifically the repugnican party!